After that day, Triton removed Livia’s shackles and promised never to suppress her freedom again.

Since Livia understood his anxiety, she promised to always go with Sympho and Neo when leaving the Golden Palace.

A seemingly peaceful daily life passed by.

While Livia was immensely happy, she found herself frequently looking around due to an uneasy feeling. It was because of Echidna, who was suspiciously quiet.

‘Even though Triton expressed his love, nothing happened.’

When the sea god falls in love with a human, he would turn into sea foam and disappear.

Echidna had clearly said that Triton’s love would lead to his destruction.

But as Triton said, it seemed impossible to do anything to him with just a word of love. Then… what was Echidna’s scheme? What was she aiming for by staying so quiet?

Livia recalled Echidna’s eerie gaze. The witch’s eyes who returned from death were as black as poison.

If devils exist, they would look like that. No, perhaps she had already become a devil.

Livia unconsciously scratched the wound on her wrist.

“Is it itchy?”

Suddenly, a voice called out, and when she turned around, Audike was approaching Livia with a large fruit basket.

“Audike!”

“I thought you might be hungry, so I brought some food. The figs are very sweet.”

After the shackles were removed, the best part was being able to talk freely with Audike. Livia spread a mat with Audike in the garden in front of the Pearl Palace.

Today the palace was close to the surface, so the light came in very brightly. Thanks to this, the pure white palace called the Pearl Palace and the colorful coral colonies sparkled beautifully.

“I didn’t know a place like this existed.”

“Well, it’s not really a place Lord Triton frequents. And this spot is practically my secret place, no one knows about it.”

Audike giggled while munching on grapes from the basket.

“These green grapes are really delicious. Try some quickly, Livia. You haven’t been eating well lately.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Livia ate the grapes Audike handed her while looking down at the Golden Palace.

Though called the Golden Palace, its main color was similar to the Pearl Palace’s white. What made it more magnificent than any other palace was the abundance of golden decorations on that white background.

It was quite a spectacle to see tiny cute fish schools and beautiful jellyfish swimming around inside the palace.

While gazing at this different kind of spectacular view from the surface for a while, Livia noticed merpeople moving around in pairs.

‘Merpeople….’

Livia suddenly asked Audike.

“By the way Audike, what’s the difference between sirens and merpeople?”

“Ah? Well… strictly speaking, they’re not that different. Sirens are merpeople, but not all merpeople are sirens, something like that?”

“What does that mean?”

“Only those merpeople born with special voices can be called sirens. They also have stronger instincts yearning for humans, so sirens are the merpeople most often captured by humans.”

At Audike’s words, Livia recalled the baby siren. That baby’s parents were also captured by humans and killed. She wondered how that child was doing now, and just as she was thinking about it, Audike spoke.

“So among ourselves, we often speculate that the mermaid who loved a human and had her voice taken by a witch might have been a siren.”

It was a story Livia knew well. While it was a story of merpeople, it was also widely spread among humans. Nodding in understanding, Livia suddenly asked.

“Is the saying that merpeople turn into sea foam when they love humans also from that story?”

“Well? Maybe. But that’s actually been like an unwritten rule among merpeople since ancient times, so no one really knows where it originated from. However.”

“…However?”

“Most merpeople who loved humans never returned to the sea. That’s probably why the story about turning into sea foam came about. Because they were never seen again.”

As she listened to Audike’s words, Livia followed the merpeople swimming up toward the surface. Their tails swimming powerfully sparkled beautifully in the light.

A silver-blue tail more beautiful than any fish flashed across Livia’s vision. The smooth, cool scales that had glowed ethereally even in the foam sparkled brilliantly like jewels.

My god, my sea, my merman who drove me to extreme excitement amid hot desire and tender affection…

When her anxious eyes looked back at the Golden Palace, Livia’s eyes widened in surprise.

At some point, the master of the palace was watching her from the top of the Golden Palace.

***

The Tritones visited frequently, having heard some rumors carried by the waves.

Triton soothed and sent away his brothers and attendants who came with anxiety.

Perhaps because they were born simultaneously from one womb? Even without words, they had an understanding between them.

Therefore, false words saying the rumors weren’t true wouldn’t work with them.

The Tritones were those who carried out what Triton wanted without him having to explicitly say it. As his brothers and alter egos, they couldn’t help but feel this intense ’emotion’ that Triton was experiencing now.

And so they were anxious.

Worried that he had fallen in ‘love’ as the rumors said.

Worried that the guardian of the sea might turn into sea foam or fall into great danger.

“…Please be careful. Even for a god, it’s necessary to be cautious of taboos passed down since ancient times.”

They sent him solemn warnings, but it was already too late.

Triton clearly felt his emotions…

He loved Livia.

That woman was his. Nothing could take Livia away from him. Not even death or curses.

He watched with gentle eyes as the woman, having discovered him, ran down the hill toward the Golden Palace.

Every time he entered the woman’s unusually hot flesh, Triton felt his soul being saved.

Though he had never fallen, he felt an uplifting sensation as though he were soaring, a euphoria that made his head feel like it would burst.

He loved Livia’s languid body scent, her eyes shining as if burning for life and purpose, her boldness to speak anything while looking straight at him.

He loved her small hands and feet that seemed they would break with just a little force, her lips that would swell with just a little sucking, her audacity to eagerly accept whatever pleasure he gave even while struggling.

But in truth, what attracted him most was how she clung to the things she loved while enduring endless pain.

Livia’s figure desperately holding onto that love stimulated Triton.

If what she held in her heart wasn’t family, but him…

Just that thought made his lower abdomen tighten and his member harden.

To possess Livia, he wouldn’t spare anything—be it his heart or tail.

‘Tail…’

Triton recalled Hecate’s message. After talking about the heart all along, even he was internally surprised when the tail was mentioned.

As mermaid tails became known as an elixir of immortality, humans endlessly hunted innocent merpeople. Thousands of merpeople and sirens died in the process, but humans didn’t stop the massacre.

It was utterly foolish hunting.

If mermaid tails were truly an elixir of immortality, the merpeople with those tails should not die, yet they all died cruelly because of human greed.

Even seeing this, humans still wanted mermaid tails. Because even if not an elixir of immortality, mermaid tails did somewhat alleviate human poisons and diseases.

…Then what about a sea god’s tail?

Triton unconsciously looked down at his legs. Though he didn’t often reveal his true form, he certainly had a merman form.

With a tail more splendid and powerful than any mermaid’s.

If asked whether he would be reluctant to give it up for Livia, he wouldn’t be.

‘However…’

If the heart was destroyed, it could regenerate though it took time. But the tail, once gone, would never return.

There was a secret hidden here.

—

T/N: D*mn. Look how far we’ve come. Brings tears to my eyes.